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| "I thought we might get together for your birthday and go visit the farms", said Aunt Marilee. So we did.
C'mon, it'll be fun!
First, we check out all the nice, fresh produce for sale. Somebody didn't eat a very good breakfast, and Aunt Marilee said she'd treat us to ice cream, so we snacked on a nectarine and a banana.
This afforded an opportunity to look around at all the attractions the farm had to offer. Incidentally, it also afforded the opportunity for me to unintentionally stand on the pumpkin scale while taking many photos of my son cause, well, that was the best angle. I obliviously snapped away til a woman walked by and said, "I don't know that I'd just be standing there on the pumpkin scale..." I said, "Ha, ha, yeah... oh. Right". And got off. Heh, heh. At least I'm not sensitive about my weight.  Then...
What's that? 54 lbs, you say? More than twice my weight, you say? See if that stops me!
Cookies'n'cream in a cone! Thanks, Aunt Marilee!
 Wait a minute... something's wrong here...
Hey, look!
More fun stuff over here!
Here's a tractor!
Can I drive it?
Yes! It's a special tractor just for kids like me!
But look over there! Even more fun things to see!
Like this delightful bucket of water!
And a merry-go-round!
And another machine to ride on!
What do you mean, this one's not a toy?
Hey look, Mom! I'm a pumpkin!
Now I'm an apple!
What fun! Thanks, Aunt Marilee and Sarah, for visiting the farm with us! Next time, we'll take Daddy along!
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| We've been having so many great adventures this summer! August was "Date month", without even being planned that way, and September brought more opportunities to make fun family memories.
Last week, we headed to the pool one evening when rain canceled the hiking trip we had planned for the day. Logan hadn't been there since he was 6 weeks old and we were so excited to let him experience it all.
We started out in the wave pool, and he pretty much freaked out.
We took him to a stiller, shallower pool and tried to get him to stand in it, but he wouldn't put his feet down.
Morgan took him down the water slide.
Nope, nope, nope, he would have none of it.
He just clung to us, shaking and making noises anywhere from a whimper to a scream. So we spent the rest of the time in the kiddie pool, where he finally got brave enough to walk around a bit and even let go of our hands. I didn't get any pictures there since I was playing in the water too.
Morgan and I have talked before about wishing there was some machine that we could plug Logan's brain into at the end of the day that would transcribe for us a little journal of his thoughts and impressions of the things he experiences throughout the day. Most recently, we're guessing that he wonders why we're so bent on torturing and terrifying him and what form it will take next.
On Sunday, we went mini-golfing with the Aussies and Kiwis group here in town.
 
He was evidently not impressed and threw the screaming fit of his life for the first 16 holes.
Later, as we ate a pizza place with the group, I saw the old fashioned carousel they had.
I thought, "Hey, wouldn't Logan love to ride that!"
  
No, evidently he wouldn't.
So, what will we come up with next...? | | |
| While we hung out in the girls' cabin before Sarah's wedding, my aunt Angela talked to us about a 24-hour scrapbooking event she has attended in the past there at the camp. They set up tables end to end throughout the gym and other rooms, some covered with scrapbooking supplies and others with snacks. The women have the option to sleep during the night in the cabins, but many just take advantage of the uninterrupted, kid-free time and have a scrapbooking blitz. Sometimes Aunt Angela goes with friends and sometimes she goes alone - which is much more productive. It kind of sounds like fun.
I'm not the scrapbooking type though - not at all. This here, my blog, with what I hope to be clever little comments inserted between darling photographs - no frills, no cute stickers, or fancy-edge-cutting scissors - this is as close as I get to a scrapbook.
We already save all our pictures on our computer and both Morgan and I put the each month's pictures up on facebook, but here I can put in a little more creativity, a few more thoughts, preserve a little more of the memory. Then, when Logan asks, "When did you cut my hair the first time?" or "Did I ever go to the coast when I was a baby?" or "Was I always this smart and strong and handsome?", I'll "turn" to that "page" in my "scrapbook" and let the old pictures and words tell him the stories.
With that, here's our Independence Day 2009!
Arriving early at our church camp, Morgan and Logan visit with our family and friends.
 Here is Logan with cousin Roman and Nana.
Meanwhile, I ate a quick bbq lunch and then joined the other musicians in the traditional "4th of July Stationary Marching Band". We played patriotic music while everyone else ate their bbq.
 Steve is our faithful, fearless leader.
 Here's me with the tuba (I'm the one without the beard). Abigail is behind me, evidently confused about something.
 Dad almost didn't come to play trombone this year. He said he'd leave it to the younger guys. When we had 0 trombones at the rehearsal though, he gave in and played with us. He's such a good sport and it's really fun to play in a band with your dad!
 Here's the whole group. As our concert when on, the sun slowly moved across the band - those still in the shade wondering why those to their right were getting all squirmy and out of tune. Boy, it sure makes a difference when the sun shines down right on you! Anyway, as you can see, part of the band enjoyed shade all the way through!
After the concert, we took Logan over to the kiddie pool. I hadn't grabbed my swimsuit before we left, so I just spectated and photographed my guys enjoying the water.
 
Logan took a bit to warm up to the idea. Morgan tried to encourage him to be a little more adventurous.
 
Then they moved to the big pool and Logan started really getting into it.
 
Yep, he was having a real good time by the end!
I think he just loves to do whatever Dad's doing. It makes him feel so special and grown up.
After leaving the camp, we enjoyed naps (yay!). Then Nana and Mitchell came by and we played some Wii tennis. Later, my parents and Daniel came over and we played more Wii and ate sandwiches and chips while playing Settlers of Catan.
When our guests left and it got dark, we walked down to our nearby park to enjoy big fireworks from several nearby shows. Logan was pretty petrified by the private fireworks from the neighbors nearby, while those from the big shows were apparently not even interesting enough to distract him from playing with a cell phone. 
Independence Day has been my favorite holiday since high school - maybe even middle school. I used to think it was because of the specific traditions we held: morning road race, picnic and band at the church camp, rodeo with friends in the evening. Since getting married, and especially since Logan was born, we've stopped participating in some of those traditions. But you know what? The July 4ths of these recent years have been still so fun, so full - highlights of my month and my summer!
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| Ahhh, vacation! We've just enjoyed 9 days off together! We've had lots of fun adventures - lots of games, lots of relaxing, not so much sleeping, a fun day trip, and extra time for playing on the playgrounds, taking walks, and playing in the river.
Learning to balance motherhood and vacation is something I'm still struggling with. Vacation no longer means doing only what I want to do - there's some responsibility that remains constant. I find the balance a little quicker with each vacation so soon I think it will just be natural. At any rate, I really love the extra time to play, snuggle, laugh, and relax with my guys!
But enough talk - here are some of our pictures.
On Wednesday we went for a hike.
This is how Dad gets in his cardio and weight training at once.
After a long, hard ride, Logan needs a break!
Resting at the summit, enjoying nature... aaaand technology. 
On Saturday we enjoyed the Highland Games. How do I explain it... It's like a fair but everything is Scottish. Probably 40% of the people there were wearing kilts. There were pipe bands, Highland dancing competitions, sheepdog demonstrations, traditional foods for sale, competitions where large stones, logs, and hammers were thrown by even larger men. We were close to the airport, so jets were flying over every 5 minutes or so. I think that was probably Logan's favorite part.
 Here we are as the day starts out. We sat in the open, grassy area for about 30 minutes during the opening ceremonies. Evidently, that was too long for me because oh! I had a good sunburn after that! I paid for it for the next 3 days.  Thankfully, Morgan and Logan only got slight burns on their faces.
 So then we moved into the shaded stands, which were much cooler.
Preparing to start the parade. All the Scottish clans represented there lined up in alphabetical order, wearing their family tartan.
Parading.
I know there's a lot in this picture but look at the stage and you'll see three competitors doing Highland dancing.
This is an amazing show of precision, strength, and grace. They hop around on tiptoes to the accompaniment of bagpipes. Even more impressive is that they're doing all this in woolen jackets, kilts, and kneesocks in the bright sun and 90+ degree weather!
     
There were - I don't know, 10, 12, more? of these pipe bands there. They were so fun to listen to! I think the drummers are my favorite. They make up most of the show, twirling their sticks in between beats all synchronized together. You can see it a little in the second picture below. So impressive!
   
More bands marching and playing.
 
Okay, so these pictures are really busy too, but do you see the big ol' pole standing vertically in the first picture? It's a 120 lb (I think) caber. That man at the bottom of it picks it up, gets it balanced, then starts running while slowly letting it fall forward. As it falls, he tosses the bottom end up, hoping to make the caber flip completely so bottom end is up and top end is down, and the whole pole lands at 12 o'clock from where he is standing. Crazy, huh? I think 7 or 8 men were competing here. Each man gets three tries and from that, I think we only saw 2 successful throws (where the caber actually flipped, though neither landed at 12 o'clock). There are many guesses as to the origin of this sport, but the one we heard was that the skill was developed to form makeshift bridges over rivers. Hence the motivation for getting the caber to land at 12 o'clock.
The second picture is of all the contestants being recognized on the stage. You can't really tell from the picture, but these are BIG men!
After the games, we headed to visit relatives nearby. We had a wonderful visit, a tasty dinner, and a relaxing evening until much later than we should've considering the 2 hour drive home. We see them rarely though, so it was completely worth it.
Much of the rest of vacation was spent relaxing at home, and Dad and Logan got in some good play time together.
  
Today we return to regular life. We are so thankful to God for blessing us so richly and providing for us so abundantly that we are able to take time off together as a family like this.
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